It was great to be back together as a team this week after a refreshing Christmas break! We have spent time planning and preparing for upcoming activities. Phil and Sarah have been spending time with the new Walk Through presenters and working with them in preparation for Old Testament mini courses this term. Next week we will be leading courses at Beechwood, La Houguette and Forest with more requests coming in…. including lots of bookings for the NT Mini courses in the summer term. 

This week we taught 2 of 4 sessions on the Christian views on War at La Mare High School with year 9 students. A very relevant topic given the current news reports! This lesson is always a challenge as we discuss questions like: ‘Can violence ever be good?’ and ‘What makes a war ‘just’?’ We discuss the importance of having peace and justice alongside maintaining the sanctity of human life.

A highlight for the team every year is working at Le Murier School with a group of students to help them receive a unit for their ASDAN qualification. This week we had our first session where we introduced the story of Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat. Over the next 5 weeks we will work with the students to put together an assembly based on the story of Joseph which they will then perform to the lower school. 

It was also great to be able to speak at Cobo Mission on Thursday evening and to meet such an enthusiastic and prayerful group of supporters. Thank you for inviting us and for all your support.

Last week, we spent three days with Notre Dame running Prayer Spaces. 254 children from Reception to Year 6, spent time in their transformed library exploring Advent and the Christmas story using a variety of activities. One of our stations let the children think about what they were waiting for this Christmas, they could write or draw it on a paper clock and place it in a manger as a sign that they trust in God’s timing. Another looked at how God guided the Wise Men with a star and how God guides us in our journey through life. Each child got to take a small star as a reminder that God is always with them. We looked at the gifts the Wise Men gave too, and how we can use our gifts, talents and abilities to help others. The children wrote things like “I can help tidy the house”, or “I can buy food for the food bank” on gift tags and stuck them onto our pile of presents. It made the children think of others and how they can use what they’re good at to bless other people. We also had a large map of the world and encouraged the children to write prayers for those people in the world who are treated unfairly or looked down on, like the Shepherds were. Prayers included “Dear God, our world is being destroyed because of climate change, please help us to serve you”, and “Dear God, please look after everyone”. The prayers were beautiful and eye opening to see what was on the children’s hearts. Our last station looked at how Mary and Joseph couldn’t take much “stuff” with them on their journey. We linked this with how we find it hard to forgive people sometimes and that unforgiveness can slow us down on our journey through life. Using Fizzy Forgiveness, we asked God to help us forgive others and let go of “stuff” that will slow us down. It was a lovely few days and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The children interacted very well and we had some great conversations. Thank you to all of the volunteers who gave up their time to come and help us out. Please have a look at some photos from Notre Dame below.

Over the past two weeks we have delivered four lessons to year 8’s on the Christian views on the problem of evil and suffering at La Mare. This is always an interesting session to lead as students grapple with big questions such as, ‘Why is there evil in the world?’ and ‘Where does evil come from?’ We look at the significance of free will and how God did not create programmed robots but free thinking individuals. We give the students the opportunity to get into the character of God and ask them what they would do in different situations… often their version of God involves them acting like the Hulk, Iron Man or the Flash! This is never an easy lesson to lead as the questions are difficult and there are no easy answers but it is a great opportunity to give students the chance to explore these deep ideas.

Yesterday we had our last “Space for PACE” of the year with Nicole Le Goupillot. Nicole gave us some time to reflect on some Christmas songs/carols and a corresponding verse and prompting question. We had time alone to read through these and see if anything struck us. We could then share this with the team and discuss what we had reflected on. It was a great end to the term, thank you Nicole!

As the term comes to a close and some of us get away for Christmas, we reflect on the different, challenging but amazing term we have had. With Emma leaving, Victoria joining, Sarah away for a few weeks and Phil having his hip replacement we have been busy! But we have come together as a team and had a really great term.

We are definitely into the Christmas season now, with invitations to the first school nativities appearing, alongside our Advent/Christmas assembly and Y3 Christmas lessons (5 already booked) and the invitation to speak to a packed hall at the Vale Reception Christingle service last Friday. It’s been great to work with lots of volunteers from a number of churches: Jean (Vazon Elim); Karen (Trinity); Frances (Spurgeon); Sarah-Jane (St Saviours); Nigel (Les Camps) and Claire (Salvation Army). The Christmas lessons and a lesson on Baptism at La Houguette have been very well received.

Another highlight was getting most of the new Old Testament Mini presenters together as we plan for the increasing number of courses next year – 8 new presenters trained this year gives us a huge opportunity to reach all the primary schools in Guernsey and, following the completion of 2 courses at Vale Primary next Monday, bookings are coming in thick and fast for next term – the demand is growing! We’ve also had lots of very interested visitors watching Claire and Phil in action, including Stuart Tanswell and Gill Nobes – rectors of Vale and St Sampson’s.

We have lead our Advent themed assembly at Notre Dame, La Mare, Castel, Forest, Capelles, St Martins, Melrose, Acorn House, Beechwood, St Mary and St Michael and La Houguette over the past two weeks. Last week Phil lead an assembly at Ladies College on the theme of respect. Using the teaching of Paul on how the body is made up of many parts and each of those parts is just as important as the rest. The assembly concluded how we are all equally valuable and no one is less significant than anyone else. 

In senior lunch clubs we have been exploring the Christmas story. This has involved some highly amusing improvisations of the Nativity story being acted out by students. It has been great to explore with students what they think the true meaning of Christmas is and to be able to share with them why Jesus’ birth is so important to Christians.  

BOLT clubs will be coming to an end next week with our party week, a time to just have fun and play all the games we have enjoyed. The last 10 weeks have gone really well and we’ve had some fantastic conversations with these 8-9 year olds. A big thank you to our volunteers who have helped us this term!

It’s been a busy few weeks, with lots of new activities starting. Our new OT Mini Presenters are beginning to lead courses. Last week, Claire Hill and Phil started back to back sessions at Vale. These are going really well and Claire is enjoying the challenge of these lessons.

We’ve now done four more Creation lessons at senior schools, completing all 15. These would not have been possible without the help of Adam and Emma who have enjoyed connecting with their local schools and being involved.

Victoria made her debut in senior assemblies, helping lead alongside Lisa and Phil at Elizabeth College. The theme of this assembly was teamwork and we used the Malteser Challenge (imagine a wooden spoon attached to a metre long stick and trying to feed someone else a Malteser with it) to illustrate it. This activity caused great amusement and I’m sure the point of working together was made! We’ve also led another senior assembly at Blanchelande looking at “Unexpected Heros” where we looked at the life of Paul and the challenges he faced.

Our last primary assembly of this term has started. We’re focusing on Advent and preparing for Christmas. We encourage the children not to forget about Jesus amongst all the excitement of food, presents, trees and decorations. The assembly starts with a “Penguin Waddle Relay” where two teams of four race each other from one side of the hall to the other with a present between their knees. This has been very funny to watch! We go on to read the story of the Wise Men from the Bible and conclude that Jesus is the most important present of all. So far we have been to Amherst, Vale and Vauvert. We also visited Le Murier with this assembly too.

Finally, we had a goodbye/thank you coffee with Emma this week. Although she is leaving the day to day team, she will still be volunteering with us for various parts of our working week. So we’re pleased to still have her working with us.

Following a refreshing half term break the PACE team are back in action. Phil has been given the all clear following his hip replacement and has now rejoined the team. It is great to have him back and we are thankful that all has gone well following his operation. Thank you for praying for Phil over the last few months.

This week we have led 11 lessons on the Christian views on Creation at three different schools: La Mare, St Sampsons and Ladies College. We have enjoyed all these sessions and the students have engaged really well with the activities and questions. It is always interesting to hear from the students about how they think the world was created. Some of the sessions have been with Year 7 students. We have enjoyed reconnecting with pupils that remember PACE from primary school and finding out how their transition to secondary school has gone. Much to the joy of Phil one major thing they remember is the ‘creation song’ and so we have had many renditions sung to us this week!!

In senior lunch clubs we have looked at the topic of forgiveness, posing the question ‘how easy do we find it to forgive?’ In BOLT clubs the theme for this week was ‘Jesus came to do good’.

We have some exciting news to share with you this week! PACE have hired a new schools worker, Victoria Thorburn.

Victoria has joined PACE after completing an HND course in art and design where she was able to explore her faith through her art. She enjoys working with the youth and finding creative ways to explore faith in the world today. Victoria goes to Eldad Elim Church and has been involved with the youth work as well as being on the worship team. She enjoys reading comics, composing music and making one too many puns. We are really looking forward to getting to know her and see her grow into her role at PACE. Her first team meeting involved tea and cake at Oatlands! Thank you for your prayers in our search for a new worker, we’re so pleased to have Victoria on board!

In other news, the primary assembly is going well and will be delivered to Vale, La Houguette, St Martins, Vauvert, Beechwood and Amherst this week. Lunch clubs are continuing to run. In the senior schools, we have been exploring friendships and relationships. This week in BOLT we are looking at the Bible and how “God speaks to us through the Bible.”

Next week, we will be delivering the first of 14 lessons on the Christian views on Creation at Ladies College, St Sampsons and La Mare High. These will continue after half term. Please pray for the team as they lead these sessions.

Last week we had the Hautes Capelles lesson looking at the Bible with Year 3s. The session went really well with the children interacting with the activities. We started by asking them what they already knew about the Bible and were encouraged by the amount they could tells us about stories or people in the Bible. When we looked at specific stories like Creation, Noah, and Jesus in more depth, they were able to fill in the gaps when we asked them. The lesson was received well by the school and said that “it was a great introduction to the special book that Christians believe in.” Thank you to Adam and Claire who helped us in presenting this lesson.

Lisa and Claire Hill, from The Salvation Army, visited Le Murier school to deliver an assembly on Harvest to the Year 7s. We looked at our favourite food, where food comes from and the importance of sharing our food. This was illustrated by Lisa refusing to share her box of Celebrations! Claire then reminded Lisa the importance of sharing and giving with a joyful heart (2 Corinthians 9:7.

Primary assemblies started off at Hautes Capelles last week, continuing at Forest, La Mare and Castel this week. Our theme is feeling like the odd one out and the importance of including and helping our neighbours who are feeling left out or are in need. We use the story of the Good Samaritan to illustrate the importance of being a friend to everyone.

In senior schools, we have visited Elizabeth College this week where the assembly looked at taking responsibility for your actions. Lisa was joined by Mick from Eldad to deliver these assemblies. We encouraged the students to think about what kind of person they wanted to be. At Ladies College we will lead an assembly on how the choices we make impact other people.

A message from Phil:
“It’s been a very different start to the new school year for me personally! Instead of the usual new term busy-ness, I had my long awaited and much needed hip replacement operation in early September, and after 4 days in hospital I returned home to start the long enforced lay-off period of rest and recuperation, which will take me out of ‘up-front’ action until after half term, having been signed off work by the surgeon for 6-8 weeks! The operation went really well – thank you so much for your prayers and the many cards that have appeared! So now it’s keeping up with the prescribed physio appointments and exercises which, hopefully, will produce a much more mobile and energetic me!!

Before the op, however, it was great to be able to train 5 more new OT mini presenters in late August, having now been authorised by ‘Walk through the Bible UK’ to train new presenters myself here in Guernsey – so welcome to the team: Sarah-Jane Allen (St Saviour’s); Tim and Dorcas Berry (La Villiaze); Frances Ogier (Spurgeon Baptist) and Eleanor White (St Peter’s). That makes 8 new presenters this year as the demand for this exciting 5-week Bible course has grown. Excellent!!”

We’re slowly getting back into a routine, with our senior lunch clubs back up and running. It’s been great to catch up with the students following their summer holidays. This term we are also leading three BOLT clubs at Blanchelande, La Houguette and Vauvert schools. These have started this week with the session “God is awesome”.  At Vauvert we had 24 children attend Week 1!

We thought we would take some time to do some training in preparing and giving talks. Sarah and Lisa along with Nicole Le Goupillot are following the Loud and Clear 4 week course, produced by Ali Martin from Soul Survivor Church. This course teaches about the importance of preparation, structure, illustrations and other key aspects of communicating the Bible. We have really valued the sessions so far and being able to talk about what works for us and develop our skills. If you’re interested in doing the course yourself, it is free and you can find the videos and resources here:https://www.soulsurvivor.com/loudandclear

Next week we have a lesson at Hautes Capelles with Year 3 on The Bible. We have been busy planning this session alongside our volunteers. We will be using a variety of activities to engage the students including songs, worksheets and storytelling to introduce them to the Bible narrative. Please pray for us as we prepare and lead this session. 

Just to update you, Phil is making good progress in his recovery following his operation. Thank you for all your prayers.